


of artillery and gems

by prettyhearse



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Other, POV Second Person, Pre-Canon, Unfinished, basically a little bit about the two other rubies in the answer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-21 23:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8264687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyhearse/pseuds/prettyhearse
Summary: After Ruby 7B4G appears to have joined the ever-growing rebellion on Earth, her two comrades are sent back to Homeworld to explain themselves. pre canon, second person, UNFINISHED DRABBLE.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is something i wrote months ago. it was orginally going to be another poetic piece but ended up being more prose-like.
> 
> it's written in the second person because this was written before hit the diamond, so i had no idea about how to differentiate between gems, especially seeing as we barely got any info on the other rubies in the answer. if anyone wants me to continue this or whatever, just let me know in the comments. enjoy!
> 
> Written from the POV of backhand-gem Ruby.

"1B6D and 3B9F," the jasper before you reads out. "We meet again."

You nod, keeping your head bowed.

"Where's the other ruby? We sent three of you," she asks.

"Uh... we... don't know?" Ruby mumbles unsurely, shifting around awkwardly. "We kinda got poofed and-"

"What?!"

"The rebels were a lot stronger than we thought, Jasper," you say, looking up at her.

"Did you not fuse?!" she yells, handing her screen to the Bronzite beside her. "There's a reason we sent three of you!"

"We did," you say, "But the rose quartz split us up and then her pearl ju-"

"Wait," Jasper interrupts, frowning. "Her pearl poofed you?"

You look down and nod slowly, knowing that she's about to break you with her bare hands. She grabs you by the front of your shirt and holds you up so she can look you in the eye. It had been a long time since you'd seen her get this angry.

"You let a pearl poof you! A pearl! I can't believe this, two ru-"

"Hey, she had two swords!" Ruby says frantically, running to Jasper. "We didn't even see her coming!"

"Save the excuses," Jasper spits as she drops you. "What about the sapphire?"

You stand to your feet and dust yourself off, wincing. "We don't know about that either. I think 7B was able to protect her."

Jasper scowls and turns to Bronzite. "Any word on this from Kyanite yet?"

Bronzite taps around on her screen for a moment before answering. "Ruby 7B4G and Blue Diamond’s sapphire are AWOL," she says. "Kyanite's report says the sapphire ran off with the ruby and jumped off the Cloud Arena with her after the rebels disappeared. They suspect she may have been involved with the rebels, seeing as she gave Blue Diamond false information about what would happened when they arrived."

"Damn it," Jasper growls, grabbing her screen and scanning over the report. "Do you two have any idea what'll happen when those rebels get their hands on that sapphire? You're both dismissed."

You salute to her and then quickly turn around and march away, sighing in relief once she's out of earshot.

"She didn't have to be so harsh on us," you mutter to Ruby, kicking over a pile of broken ship parts as you walk. "Not our fault some pearl didn't know her place."

"I know, right? And how were we supposed to know 7B'd run off with the sapphire?" she whispers. "I wonder what she wanted with her."

"C'mon, you saw the way they were looking at each other back there," you say, smirking. "To be honest... I wouldn't've minded if she ran off with me."

"What?"

"You saw her, right?"

Ruby looks at you and sighs. "You say that about every gem we do a job for. Besides, she's part of Blue Diamond's court. She'd probably think she's too good for us or something."

"Well she certainly didn't think she was too good for ole 7B," you add, winking. "I dunno, maybe she just prefers rubies over pearls."

"Don't be gross," Ruby laughs, punching your arm. "Do you think she's holding her hostage or something?"

"Nah, no one would care about some ruby. I think she just needed something to protect herself. If she wanted a hostage she would've taken one of the other court members. That'd get some attention."

"I hope she's okay. I was actually starting to like her. Did you think she was cool?"

Before you can reply, you feel someone put their arm around you and pull you close.

You close your eyes and sigh. "Hi, Ametrine."

"How was the new colony?" she asks excitedly, skipping along beside the two of you. "I heard you two got poofed by a pearl."

"Oh wow, word really gets around here," you mumble. "Hey, haven’t you got bootcamp or somethin'?

"I'm finished bootcamp," Ametrine says defensively. "I told you, Tanzanite said I'm almost a fully qualified soldier."

"Almost," Ruby repeats, giggling.

"Whatever. I can't believe you guys lost a sapphire."

"We didn't lose her," you say. "She ran off with 7B"

"Wait, really?" Ametrine stops. "No way!"

"Yep. Apparently she jumped off the Cloud Arena with her. Must've been a rebel."

"Damn," Ametrine kicks at a rock on the ground and sighs. "Wonder why she decided to take 7B."

"She's a sapphire, she needs something to protect her when Yellow Diamond sends some troops after her," you say.

"And she's a prissy little aristocrat. She couldn't fend for herself if she tried," Ruby laughs, nudging you.

You snort. "Eh, I wouldn't really call her prissy. I'm surprised she didn't have 7B shattered for bumping into her."

"Woah, the new colony sounds wild," Ametrine says in amazement. "I can't believe she was actually a rebel all along! You can’t trust anyone these days."

"Too true. Who knows, maybe 7B was a rebel all along too," Ruby jokes, but Ametrine gasps.

"Really?! Oh my stars, you really can’t trust anyone! We'd better keep an eye out for any suspicious behaviour. You never kno-"

"Oh, uh, I think I heard Tanzanite calling you," you look around and elbow Ruby, winking at her. "You heard her too, right Ruby?"

Ruby nods.

"Shoot,I think I have training now," Ametrine looks around frantically. "Uugh, I completely forgot! See you guys later!"

You watch her run off down one of the alleyways and sigh in relief.

"I thought she'd never leave," Ruby groans.

"I don't think she would've if I didn't do that," you say. "Why'd you have to be so nice to her when she first arrived? Now she thinks we're her friends or something."

"I dunno," Ruby shrugs. "I didn't know she'd get so... attached to us."

"Hopefully Tanzanite sends her off once she's done with training," you mumble as you approach Bixbite's office. "Any idea what we're gonna tell her?"

"Nope... I was hoping you had something."

"Well, I'm sure she already knows," you lean against the side of her office and Ruby copies you. "I'll think of something."

Ruby shifts closer to you. "How bad is it?"

"What?"

"Losing a sapphire?" she asks, looking down at her feet. "Are we gonna get broken for this?"

You flash her a comforting smile. "Of course not. Numbers are too low. But even if they weren't, it's not that bad. If she was already a rebel there's nothing we could've done about it. But keep your voice down, I need time to think."

"O-oh, right, sorry."

“It isn’t gonna help if a rebellion breaks out though,” you add. “She’s a blue sapphire. Their future vision is like, 99.9% accurate all the time. If the rebels have her they’ll know our every move before we even think of it. I wouldn’t worry about it though.”

She looks up at you and frowns. “Why not?”

You snort. “After that fiasco we’re gonna be on kindergarten patrol for the next two centuries. No wars for us.”

“Aw, I hate kindergarten patrol,” Ruby whines.

“I said, keep your voice down,” you hiss, grabbing her arm. “I hate it too but it’s better than being broken.”

“Yeah…” she whispers, “Um, should we go in now?”

“I guess. I’ll knock,” you say as you step away from the wall and slowly turn the corner to the front of her office. You hold your breath and knock on the metal door sharply, quickly stepping back.

The flimsy metal building shakes as you hear the sound of heavy boots stomping towards the door echo in the small alcove. The opens just a crack and Bixbite slowly looks out at you with one eye.

“Oh, it’s just you,” she mutters as she opens the door fully. “Come in.”

She walks back into her office and you follow behind her, hearing Ruby slam the door once you’re both inside. The whole office shakes.

“Sorry!” Ruby gasps.

“It’s fine,” Bixbite says dismissively, “I almost want this thing to collapse. Maybe they’d give me something nicer.”

You both force a quiet laugh.

Bixbite sits down behind her desk and reads over her screen before turning towards her computer. “1B6D?” she asks, looking at you.

You nod.

“What about you?” she points at Ruby.

“U-uh, 3B9F,” she babbles nervously.

Bixbite squints at her screen. “3B9F? What’s your cut?”

“R16?”

“Ah, I see it now,” Bixbite stares at her computer for a moment before turning towards you again. “So, what happened?”

You and Ruby look at each other nervously and you decide it would be best if you explain. For some reason Bixbite made Ruby incredibly nervous and you knew she didn’t do well under pressure.

“Well, the rebels attacked the Cloud Arena. We fused, the rose quartz split us up and her… pearl poofed us,” you explain, wincing when you hear Bixbite stifle a laugh. “We don’t know what happened to the other ruby.

“If it weren’t for the other eye witness reports I wouldn’t believe that a pearl managed to take out two rubies. Maybe we should start recruiting them,” Bixbite gives up on trying to hide her smile and chuckles. “Anyways, as you probably already know, we can’t afford to lose a gem as valuable as Blue Diamond’s sapphire. Your mission will be marked as a failure but you won’t be sanctioned.”

You both nod.

“And I’d just like to remind you, seeing as you were both in close range of a potential rebel, withholding any information about the events of earlier breaks more laws than I care to repeat and is punishable by breaking. If we have any reason to suspect that either of you are withholding information we do have ways of getting it out of you,” she flashes you both a fake, strained smile. “If there’s anything you need to say, say it now.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> again, let me know if you'd be interested in seeing this finished. i know the style/POV strays from my usual prose style but i hope you enjoyed!


End file.
